English Grammar Exercises for B2 – used to and would

1. Complete each sentence with the correct form of used to and the verbs below.
be be have not have not use not want

1. She used to be married, but she isn’t married any more.

2. He used to have short hair, but now it’s really short!
3. In the past, people didn’t use to have social media, but now they use it all the time.
4. ‘You didn’t use to want a motorbike, did you?’ No, but I want one now.’
5. My favourite actor used to have a moustache, but he shaved it off.
6. I’m not scared of spiders, but I used to be when I was younger.

2. Choose the correct answers (a or b) to complete the text.

BEFORE THEY BECAME FAMOUS

Before they became famous, many celebrities 1…….. have the superstar lifestyles we
associate with them today. Glamorous actress and three-time Oscar nominee Amy
Adams 2…….. as a waitress when she was eighteen. And when Brad Pitt was employed by
restaurant chain El Pollo Loco, he 3…….. to dress as a chicken and wave at passing cars.
Rapper and fashion icon Kanye West 4…….. own such chic outfits when he worked for Gap,
folding clothes. And Barack Obama 5…….. one summer serving ice cream in Honolulu,
Hawaii. Apparently the ice cream was so hard that it 6…….. make his wrists hurt, and he
confesses that, of course, he 7…….. eat too much ice cream, so he doesn’t like it any more!

1 a wouldn’t b didn’t use to

2 a would work b used to work
3 a used b would
4 a didn’t use to b wouldn’t
5 a spent b used to spend
6 a wouldn’t b used to
7 a would b used to

3. Complete the second sentence with used to so that it means the same as the first.

1. Ten years ago, this shopping centre wasn’t here.

Ten years ago, this shopping centre didn’t used to be here.
2. I thought he once lived in New York.
Didn’t he used to live in New York?
3. When I was learning to play chess, I lost a lot of games.
I used to lose a lot of games when I was learning to play chess.
4. Originally, he wanted to be a professional footballer.
He used to want to be a professional footballer.
5. Wasn’t she a waitress in the past?
Didn’t she used to be a waitress?
6. He’s only had a sports car since he became famous.
Before he became famous, he didn’t use to have a sports car.
4. Complete the text with used to or would and the verbs in brackets. Sometimes both are
possible.

In the past, people 1 used to find (find) fame by being an actor, a sports star, a singer and so
on. And even very talented people 2 would know (know) that they’d only get a ‘big break’ by
achieving something really special that brought them to the public’s attention. Before the rise
of social media, people 3 did not use to become (not become) famous just for being famous.
There 4 wouldn’t be (not be) celebrities like Justin Bieber, who rose to fame after posting
videos of himself online. But there’s a downside – perhaps careers 5 did not rise (not rise) so
fast, but they also 6 did not crash (not crash) so spectacularly; nowadays a damaging story or
photo can go viral on the internet in minutes. And in the past, the famous at least had some
privacy and 7 did not need (not need) to be available to their fans on Twitter 24/7!

5. Complete the sentences with used to or would and the correct form of the verbs below.
There may be more than one possible answer.
bite eat know make not think visit

1. I used to eat a lot of meat, but I prefer vegetarian food now.

2. We would/ used to my grandparents every week when I was a child.
3. Eva did not use to think about travelling the world until she went to Holland last year.
4. She used to bite her fingernails, but she grew out of it.
5. My aunt would/ used to her own clothes when she was a student.
6. I used to know how to speak French, but I’ve forgotten now.

6. Correct the underlined mistakes in the sentences. Only use the past simple when it is
the only correct answer.

1Most of us would believe in Santa Claus when we were younger.

Most of us used to believe in Santa Claus when we were younger.
2People wouldn’t be so obsessed with celebrities before the internet.
People weren’t so obsessed with celebrities before the internet.
3Would you use to enjoy eating vegetables as a child?
Did you use to enjoy eating vegetables as a child?
4He would study engineering for two years before he became an actor.
He studied engineering for two years before he became an actor.
5My sister would hate having her hair cut when she was little.
My sister hated having her hair cut when she was little.
6Would famous actors use to earn so much money in the past?
Did famous actors use to earn so much money in the past?
7. Choose the correct words to complete the dialogue. Sometimes both answers are
correct.

Girl Tell me about your best friend at school.

Mum There was a girl called Jo. She 1 lived / would live across the road from me and
we 2 were / used to be best friends for about five years.
3
Girl Did you use to go / Would you go to the same school?
Mum Yes, but she was a year younger than me, so we 4 didn’t use to hang out / wouldn’t
hang out together at school. But we 5 used to see / would see each other every
weekend.
Girl What 6 did you use to do / would you do?
Mum Oh, the usual things like listening to music. But when Eurovision was on, we 7used
to watch / would watch the show together. That’s what I remember most about her.

Culture Code
Why are people around the world so very different? What makes us live, buy,
even love as we do? The answers are in the codes.

Cultural code - a term, which describes a self-actualized human mentality a

unity of value orientations, socio-normative establishments (routines, rituals,
heroes, symbols), fundamental features of characteristics specific to some
nation, or human grouping. In scientific circles this term is introduced by a
Russian philosopher K. M. Kantor in his "History against progress"[1991].

To Clotaire Rapaille's mind, we acquire a silent system of Codes as we grow up

within our culture. These Codes - the Culture Code - are what make us
American, or German, or French, and they invisibly shape how we behave in
our personal lives, even when we are completely unaware of our motives.
What's more, we can learn to crack the Codes that guide our actions and achieve
new understanding of why we do the things we do.
Rapaille has used the Culture Code to help Chrysler build the PT Cruiser - the
most successful American car launch in recent memory. He has used it to help
Procter and Gamble design it’s advertising campaign for Folger's coffee - one of
the longest-lasting and most successful campaigns in the annals of advertising.
He has used it to help companies as diverse as GE, AT&T, Boeing, Honda,
Kellogg, and L'Oréal improve their bottom line at home and overseas. And now,
in The Culture Code, he uses it to reveal why Americans act distinctly like
Americans, and what makes them different from the world around us.
Understanding the Codes gives us unprecedented freedom over our lives. It lets
us do business in dramatically new ways. And it finally explains why people
around the world really are different, and reveals the hidden clues to
understanding us all.
The Culture Code is the unconscious meaning we apply to any given thing - a
car, a type of food, a relationship, even a country - via the culture in which we
are raised. The American experience with Jeeps is very different from the
French and German experience because these cultures evolved differently
(Americans have strong cultural memories of the open frontier; the French and
Germans have strong cultural memories of occupation and war). Therefore, the
Codes - the meaning we give to the Jeep at an unconscious level - are different
as well. The reasons for this are numerous, but it all comes down to the worlds
in which we grew up. It is obvious to everyone that cultures are different from
one another. What most people don't realize, however, is that these differences
actually lead to our processing the same information in different ways.

The combination of the experience and its accompanying emotion create

something known widely (and coined as such by Konrad Lorenz) as an imprint.
Once an imprint occurs, it strongly conditions our thought processes and shapes
our future actions. Each imprint helps make us more of who we are. The
combination of these imprints defines us. There is a clear connection between
learning and emotion, without the latter the former is impossible. The stronger
the emotion, the more clearly an experience is learned. Think of a child told by
his parents to avoid a hot pan on a stove. This concept is abstract to the child
until he reaches out, touches the pan, and it burns him. In this intensely
emotional moment of pain, the child learns what ”hot” and ”burn" means and is
very unlikely ever to forget it. Every imprint influences us on an unconscious
level.
If we could get to the source of these imprints - if we could somehow "decode"
elements of culture to discover the emotions and meanings attached to them -
we would learn great deal about human behavior and how it varies across the
planet.

Культурний код
Чому люди в усьому світі такі різні? Що змушує нас жити, купувати,
навіть кохати так, як ми це робимо? Відповіді приховані в кодах.

Культурний код — термін, який описує самоздійснену людську

ментальність, єдність ціннісних орієнтацій, соціально-нормативних
установок (рутини, ритуали, герої, символи), фундаментальних
характеристик, специфічних для певної нації або людської групи. У
наукових колах цей термін був введений російським філософом К. М.
Кантором у його роботі «Історія проти прогресу» [1991].

На думку Клотаїра Рапая, ми набуваємо мовчазної системи кодів, коли

виростаємо в нашій культурі. Ці коди — Культурний код — роблять нас
американцями, німцями або французами і непомітно формують нашу
поведінку в особистому житті, навіть коли ми повністю не усвідомлюємо
своїх мотивів. Більше того, ми можемо навчитися розшифровувати коди,
які керують нашими діями, та отримати нове розуміння того, чому ми
робимо те, що робимо.
Рапай використав Культурний код, щоб допомогти Chrysler створити PT
Cruiser — найуспішніший запуск американського автомобіля за останній
час. Він використовував його, щоб допомогти Procter and Gamble
розробити рекламну кампанію для Folger's coffee — одну з
найдовговічніших та найуспішніших кампаній в історії реклами. Він
використовував його, щоб допомогти таким різним, як GE, AT&T, Boeing,
Honda, Kellogg і L'Oréal, покращити свої результати як вдома, так і за
кордоном. І тепер, у Культурний код, він розкриває, чому американці
поводяться, як американці, і що робить їх відмінними від решти світу.

Розуміння кодів дає нам безпрецедентну свободу над нашим життям.

Воно дозволяє вести бізнес зовсім по-новому. І нарешті пояснює, чому
люди у світі дійсно різні, та відкриває приховані підказки для розуміння
нас усіх.

Культурний код — це несвідоме значення, яке ми надаємо будь-якій

речі — автомобілю, типу їжі, стосункам, навіть країні — через культуру, в
якій ми виховані. Американський досвід з джипами дуже відрізняється від
французького та німецького через те, що ці культури розвивалися по-
різному (американці мають сильні культурні спогади про відкритий
фронтир; французи та німці — мають сильні культурні спогади про
окупацію та війну). Тому коди — значення, яке ми надаємо джипу на
несвідомому рівні — теж відрізняються. Причини цього численні, але все
зводиться до світів, у яких ми виростали. Очевидно для всіх, що культури
різні одна від одної. Однак більшість людей не усвідомлює, однак, що ці
відмінності насправді призводять до того, що ми обробляємо одну й ту
саму інформацію по-різному.

Поєднання досвіду та супровідної його емоції створює те, що широко

відоме (і назване так Конрадом Лоренцем) як імпринт. Після того, як
імпринт стається, він сильно впливає на наші думки та формує наші
майбутні дії. Кожен імпринт допомагає нам стати більше тими, ким ми є.
Поєднання цих імпринтів визначає нас. Існує чіткий зв'язок між навчанням
та емоцією: без останньої перше неможливе. Чим сильніша емоція, тим
чіткіше засвоюється досвід. Подумайте про дитину, якій батьки кажуть
уникати гарячої каструлі на плиті. Ця концепція абстрактна для дитини,
поки вона не потягнеться, не торкнеться каструлі і не обпече руку. У цей
інтенсивно емоційний момент болю дитина дізнається, що таке «гаряче» і
«обпалювати», і навряд чи коли-небудь це забуде. Кожен імпринт впливає
на нас на несвідомому рівні.
Якби ми могли дістатися до джерела цих імпринтів — якби ми могли якось
«розшифрувати» елементи культури, щоб виявити емоції та значення,
пов'язані з ними, — ми б дізналися багато про поведінку людини і про те,
як вона змінюється по всьому світу.